The Annex
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The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road.[1] The City of Toronto recognizes a broader neighbourhood definition that includes the adjacent Seaton Village and Yorkville areas.
Bordering the University of Toronto, the Annex has long been a student quarter and is also home to many fraternity housing and members of the university's faculty. Predominantly English-speaking, it is an affluent neighbourhood with well-educated residents.
Character
The Annex is mainly residential, with tree-lined one-way streets lined with Victorian and Edwardian homes and mansions, most of them built between 1880 and the early 1900s. Because of its proximity to the university, the Annex has a high rate of seasonal tenant turnover, and its residents range from university students to long-time residents.
The Annex is densely populated. If the rest of the geographical Toronto (the official City of Toronto, not including suburban municipalities) was built in a similar manner to the Annex, the entire population of the sprawling GTA (approximately 6 million people[) would fit in an area less than one-tenth the size that it does now[.
The stretch of Bloor Street between St. George and Bathurst is a vibrant social and retail area, offering to Toronto a wide range of services from upscale dining to discount retailers like Honest Ed's. Between Bathurst and Christie, street signs on that stretch of Bloor call it the Koreatown. During the 1950s and 1960s, an influx of Hungarian immigrants moved into the neighbourhood after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was suppressed, and many of the businesses and properties along Bloor are owned by Hungarian-Canadian families.
Annex style house
The Annex is home to many examples of a uniquely Toronto style of house that was popular among the city's elite in the late nineteenth century. Examples of this style survive in the former upper class areas along Jarvis and Sherbourne Street and also within the University of Toronto campus. Most of these buildings are found in the Annex, and the style is thus known as the 'Annex style house.'
Seaton Village
Seaton Village or 'West Annex' is that part of the Annex west of Bathurst Street. Although the Koreatown shopping district is at its southern border, it is sometimes referred to as the "West Annex". While Seaton Village shares several characteristics with The Annex (notably its architecture and its popularity with University of Toronto students), it is generally quieter, more family-oriented, and with smaller, less expensive homes.
Vermont Square Park is near the centre of Seaton Village. The park has a playground, including a wading pool. St. Albans Boys and Girls club and the Bill Bolton hockey arena are also located in the park.
Clinton Street features a house almost totally covered with circular "woodcakes" cut from billiards cues.
Culture
The neighbourhood has a thriving cultural scene, with the Tranzac (Toronto Australia-New Zealand) Club, the Bathurst Street Theatre, the Bloor Cinema (repertory cinema) and the Jewish Community Centre. Stores are open late and some restaurants are open well past midnight.
Much of the area's retail, restaurant and entertainment venues are aimed at the university student demographic - young, educated, telecommunications-connected, lack of cooking skills, higher drinking levels, non-driving.
Schools
To find out more about schools in The Annex area of Toronto, please click here: http://www.canpages.ca/business/ON/toronto/annex/schools-secondary-and-elementary-academic/3844N268-746600.html
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